Not that long ago I read a few books by Sebastian Junger, one of which detailed his long backpacking trip on foot he'd made with a couple of colleagues. Both books are worth reading. I encourage people in the burbs to ride a bike to the store or for short errands rather than take the car. But, walking is also an alternative for these errands. You can can't carry as much and it is slower. But, the fact that it is slower makes it more inherently pensive as you move along. I find that taking a break from riding the bike and putting one foot in front of the other is a nice departure. (The quote below is not from one of Jungers books, yet incidental).

Very thought provoking. Personally, I enjoy walking several miles per day with my dog. As for my personal fitness and training, nothing beats riding my bike. Walking, in my eyes, is a leisure activity where riding is an athletic endeavor.

While not perfect, there is a rough proportionality as one progresses through modes of transportation.
Ten to twenty miles is a good day of walking, and a good hour on a bike.
Fifty to sixty miles is a good day on a bike, or an hour in a car.
Five hundred is a long day in a car, or an hour in a plane.

It depends on where you're walking. If its in my neighborhood (a typical suburban concrete jungle), then its boring and forgettable. If its a walk in the woods, on the beach, or up in the countryside (like the Camino de Santiago mentioned in the article), then its interesting. I'll still prefer a bicycle on city streets.

Mostly maybe, but it might depend on the terrain and how hard you choose to push it. I can remember some pretty challenging hikes and some pretty easy rides.

These days I get most of my exercise riding. My dog has aged out of any walks that are at all demanding and running is out of the question. She was my trail running and hiking buddy for years. We ran quite a few thousands of miles together. These days I offer her a walk three times per day. On a really good day she will walk around the block two of those times. Some days she will decline two or all three. In that case she lays in the grass in the front yard at walk time and watches the neighbors go by while we sit in the adirondack chairs.

I love my bike, but I'd give up riding in a heartbeat to be able to trail run and hike with her again. She was am awesome trail dog.

When I have backpacked it always surprised me how long it takes to get from A to B compared to cycling. I remember one time looking at a map that showed a camping area 5 miles away. After walking more I pulled out a map because I thought I had passed it and realized I had only gone another 3 miles. And I’m a city boy, so walking places is an everyday occurrence.

I entered a hospital on 12/31 and was there on in rehab for 3 months after heart surgery. During that time, I didn’t put a foot on the ground for two months. When I did finally start I had to use a walker, even in the house. I’ve since graduated to a cane, and I try not to use it. Yesterday I did a walk of maybe 3 miles. My legs were shot. About to head out again. It’s nice to be somewhat mobile again.

If slow speed increases pensiveness, I guess that means there are a lot of philosophers sitting around on the sofa every evening.

This makes sense, but only if you walk barefoot, or maybe in mocassins made from the hides of animals you've honored.

If I could out pace mosquitoes or flies that swarm dog poop, walking might be entertained....
since the bicycle can, I'll stick with it. Plus, I can't outrun a stray aggressive dog, cycling I can.

Walking good. Running good. Biking good.

Otto

Waking forces me to be more pensive about how little ground I'm covering and how much less efficient I am at moving. My personal preference is to never walk something that I can't bike. Of course there is a crossover point at which if the distance is so short I'd rather walk than worry about locking up my bike, but for the most part I feel adequately connected with my environment when I'm on a bike. Admittedly less so than when I'm on foot but that's ok by me. An hour of walking gets me 3-4 miles. Where I live, that's mostly suburban and unremarkable. An hour is about what a round trip walk to the second nearest (more importantly, preferred) Starbucks would be (we now have a Dunkin closer to home, but I digress). On a bike, that 3-4 mile trip is covered in 15 minutes.

Walking is great when it turns into a hike.

Tried the roundtrip walk to the local market consisting of about 4 miles R/T.
I did not realize how much weight stress is on the shoulders from holding a couple of moderately heavy canvas grocery bags full of produce and bakery items for 30 minutes.

You had gone 60 blocks, and had 40 more to go.

you brought back fond memories of my late black lab. We ran countless miles, hiked many a mountain and his favorite; mountain biking. He was my outdoor companion for many wonderful years. He even had to knee replacements (TPLO) and he still kept going. Eventually he could only walk a couple of blocks before exhaustion. I still miss him dearly.

Barefoot on sun-baked asphalt sprinkled with goat heads -- that's the most authentic mode of transport.

**********
I would wear my gatorskin moccasins for the goatheads.

Walking good. Running bad for knees. Biking good.

You must heelstrike. No problems with knees in minimal shoes with forefoot strike.

Otto

I’ve been riding everywhere for the last 13 years (no car, by choice). Lately I’ve re-discovered the joy of walking, particularly in nature. One of the biggest advantages of walking over cycling for me is that I can listen to music with noise-cancelling earphones. I don’t do that on a bike.

Get a bag which distributes weight across the body. I have walked for miles with heavy loads of groceries that way.

Okay. This looks doable.

Sorry to hear about that setback. I hope to hear you telling us you're back on your bike soon.

i bike to work and fun. but i skip lunch and squeeze in a 3mile walk during work too.

intermittent fasting and walking is mainly what I used to lose 60+ lbs in about 5months in 2020 and kept it off since.

the secret is to find low impact cardio that you can enjoy... i don't really love walking but i can pair it with listening to podcasts, teams meetings (on iphone) for work, or calls. its hard to do teams meetings on the bike lol.